Low-Tech Stretched in Stud-Finder Showdown: Abusive Lab Test

Your house's studs lend you their strength, but if you want to wall-mount a TV or shelf, you need to find them first. We pitted a pair of electronic sensors against a low-tech tool that uses magnets to find drywall screws.

Your house's studs are willing to lend you their strength. But if you want to piggyback on their load-bearing ability in order to wall-mount a TV or shelf, you need to find them first. To determine the best stud-location technology, we pit a pair of electronic sensors--which use radarlike pulses to sense variations in a wall's density--against a low-tech tool that seeks studs the old-fashioned way, using simple magnets to find drywall screws. To test, we started scanning a 1/2-in. layer of drywall, and then piled on additional layers, plus tile, until the sensors came up blank.

Bottom Line
The pocket-friendly Stud-4-Sure may be little more than a couple of magnets wrapped in plastic, but it was a cinch to use and proved just as adept as the high-tech sensors in most scenarios. Still, if you've got thick walls and need more power, reach for the Stanley.